Lee Krasner

Lee Krasner

Eleanor Nairne
$50.00
Publication Date: June 25th, 2019
Publisher:
Thames & Hudson
ISBN:
9780500094082
Pages:
240

Description

A richly illustrated monograph on the life and work of Lee Krasner, one of the twentieth century’s most inspiring women artists and a pioneer of abstract expressionism.

In 1984, Lee Krasner (1908–1984) became one of the few women artists to have been given a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art, New York. She quipped about her belated recognition: “I was a woman, Jewish, a widow, a damn good painter, thank you, and a little too independent.” One of the original pioneers of abstract expressionism, Krasner has for too long been eclipsed by her husband, Jackson Pollock. In fact, his death in 1956 marked her renaissance as an artist.

Coinciding with a major exhibition at Barbican Art Gallery, Lee Krasner features an outstanding selection of her most important paintings, collages, and works on paper, contextualized by photography from the postwar period, an illustrated chronology, and an unpublished interview with her biographer Gail Levin. This richly illustrated monograph is a comprehensive survey of the work of one of the twentieth century’s most dynamic artists.

About the Author

Eleanor Nairne is an art historian and curator at Barbican Art Gallery, London, where her previous exhibitions include "Basquiat: Boom for Real." She has contributed to publications including the Basquiat monograph Kings, Heroes and the Street: The Art of Jean-Michel Basquiat and is a contributor to Frieze. She is a former Jerwood writer in residence.

Praise for Lee Krasner

Present[s] Krasner—too often defined as the keeper of her husband Jackson Pollock’s legacy—as a vivid colorist inspired by Matisse and Miró.
— Vanity Fair

“Curator Eleanor Nairne contextualizes crucial paintings, collages, and drawings via photographs and an unpublished interview with Krasner's biographer, Gail Levin.”
— Art in America

Edited by Barbican curator [Eleanor] Nairne, this wonderful catalog of artist Lee Krasner’s first retrospective European show will renew interest in the artist…. Fresh perspectives interpret the artist’s processes and themes referencing environmental or literary influences, as well as describe her place in post-war history.
— Library Journal

Though best known for her marriage to Jackson Pollock, [Lee] Krasner emerges here as meriting consideration in her own right…. Krasner was a consummate experimenter, and this aspect of her practice is emphasized…. The book’s most noteworthy contribution is its visual impact: full-color images provide a wide-ranging accounting of Krasner’s artistic life and show work that is rarely reproduced.
— Choice

Lee Krasner: Living Colour demonstrates with its ample, well-chosen images what a multifaceted and dexterous painter she was.

— Christian Science Monitor